The "stoning of the devil" is one of the rituals performed at
the hajj during which pilgrims throw pebbles at three pillars that represent the
devil.

Muslim pilgrims throw pebbles at pillars during the ritual known
as the stoning of Satan in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, during
the hajj. (photo by Amellie from Brisbane, Australia)

At a recent exhibition of digital media in Iran, a similar
ritual was reportedly staged against YouTube, Facebook, and Google -- apparently
because the Iranian authorities consider them to be evil.

A picture
from the exhibition, which was held last month, shows three black
pillars representing YouTube, Facebook, and Google, and stones on the ground.

Stoning of YouTube, Facebook, and Google

Here is another
picture from the exhibition, widely shared on social media, that
appears to show the stoning of YouTube.

Blogger "Uranus," who shared the picture, writes that YouTube was stoned because
the videos of "the crimes" of the Iranian establishment are available on the
website. "Those that you don't want anyone to see because just watching five
minutes of your actions will result in washing away years of your brainwashing
[efforts]," Uranus writes.

Many Iranians who used their phones to document the 2009 postelection violence
by pro-government forces posted the videos on YouTube. One of those YouTube
videos documented the last moments of Neda Agha Soltan, a young woman shot dead
during the antigovernment protests who became one of the symbols of the
opposition movement.